This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The candidate for City Controller is airing a commercial (below) where she chastises the City Department of Housing for hiring a Zen Buddhist consultant to teach employees how to breathe.

Yet, as a Council Member Greuel voted to approve the funding for the program.

In the spot Greuel also lashes out at the Department of Animal Services who apparently bought equipment they never took out of the box. However, as noted by the always excellent David Zahniser in the LA Times, that issue was a key point of a Laura Chick audit released months ago and Greuel's Audits and Efficiency Committee never took up that contract.

Even Council Member Jan Perry, usually a Greuel ally, was a bit miffed by the spot saying "If you have a problem with something at the time, you say it at the time and you vote accordingly," with regard to Greuel's sudden turnaround on these issues.

Wendy really screwed the pooch by aligning with Weiss and the Mayor so deeply. She has the talent to be something without them but she went the easy route (at the time).

Many sense a huge backlash against the City's leadership and that could be trouble for Wendy who unlike Weiss especially is likable.

Many of the Council people who are up in two years don't want to get tagged with any anti-incumbent sentiment so you see them distancing from the party line, i.e. Perry, Rosendhal, Parks, etc.

Nick has the same guys who put Riordan into office. Along with all the anger and her gaffes coupled with Council colleagues whose support is softening she could have some tough sledding these final two weeks.

Antonovich the rightwing kook is endorsing Nuch. Knabe also always aligns against the city on anything from the subway to the sea/ expo line/ mass transit or transpo funds of any kind. Molina might as a grudge against Antonio and the westside and she always tries to get these same trasnpo funds steered to the eastside, her district. They're all just against anything to do with the central city to westside and even the near valley. (Zine even says he feels his west valley is not part of LA and acts like it.)

So if you want someone who knows the city and has experience and the respect of LAPD, you don't go with that bloc, the fringes from all geographic and political types united solely by their trying to wrest money away from "the city." If you want to fix our problems, whether gangs or transportation, this bloc is the enemy. Zev and Ridley-Thomas would never endorse Nuch, nor would Burke have.

This is apart from the fact that the more I've learned of Nuch, the more he horrifies me. He's not at all what he claims and lies about it.

Even McIntyre had a tidbit about him this morning: trying to spin specializing in defending environmental polluters and toxic dumpers (the guy who shot baby seals didn't go to him at random), while calling himself an environmental lawyer, he told reporters that the seal-shooter has seen the error of his ways and become a born-again thanks to him. PUHleeze. Then his spinner added that Nuch persuaded the guy to take his punishment and do community service.

Come on, even McIntyre can see through that one: Nuch lost and made a plea deal for restitution and a suspended sentence subject to forcing community service on the guy, and now they're claiming he turned someone into a saint and that makes him a pro-environmental attorney!

re: Animal Services: I think that radiography equipment was donated. One doesn't just set up an x-ray machine in the corner of the dog pound and start x-raying every dog and cat that come through the door.The cost of training personnel, wiring the lead-shielded, dedicated rooms, getting the whole thing up-to-code and running safely just intimidated previous chief veterinarians. How much do you want to spend to get an x-ray of a stray dog with a broken leg before you put it to sleep?

11:37am IS THAT YOU ACE SMITH, VILLARBOSO'S HATCHET MAN? Wendy is likable but everyone is right that guilt by association with the Mayor is hurting her. People are saying stay the hell away from him. No matter how you want to spin you balless little Antonio kiss butts, people aren't as dumb as they were years ago and this city is in worst shape in its history and not because of the economic crisis. Why doesn't Wendy come out and say who the city gave $5 million to and didn't realize it until the check was signed??

Nope these two are Dumber and Dumbest or Stupid Is as Stupid Does. They are the biggest clowns who are making over $150,000 from us and have no clue. They think they know how to prevent gang violence. Even an FBI expert was told us these guys are the biggest lame brains in the city. All they do is take credit for the hard work of LAPD copers on the street. What f--king nerve. Carr thinks gang bangers will hand in their guns if mamma tells them to. IDIOT!!!

Greuel wins 54%Nicky P makes a decent showing with 33% and Suzy celebrates her 13% by changing her name to Kathleen "Oozy" Evans.

Weiss and Trutanich finish first and second. One will have 39% and the other will have 32%, but I won't say which. Berger upsets Amerian for 3rd grabbing a respectable 14%. Amerian gets 9% and Noel Weiss gets 6%.

My experience of Wendy Greuel is that she says different things depending on whether she is inside of our outside of her Council District.

Therefore, I find nothing inconsistent about the fact that she may have expressed a sotto voce exasperation to a scattered handful in her District, even while nodding and winking along in Council Chamber.

Sounds like bad chi coming out of the Housing Department, though...maybe the breathing exercises weren't so effective?

If Wendy wants to tout one position above another--who wouldn't? She keeps her chakras centered!

Wendy's haircut aside, like mentioned in the posts, she's pretty agile verbally. The only problem is that she produces inconsistencies, also noted.

The flip flop is that Wendy approved spending- if she thought the Housing Authority spent unwisely, she did not say ANYTHING to them until the commercial.

Wendy would have done well to also approve some money for mind-reading classes for housing authority if she's not going to say what's on her mind to the agency.

THAT is the style of controller she'd be: "Tony, you know all that you are doing is wasteful and unethical. Well I tried. Wait- does 'thinking' this opinion count?"

Wendy is very plastic in her phony personality (or is that redundant?) and everybody can see that ACE SMITH handles her and Tony as clients, so distancing herself from the Mayor is useless (nearly as useless and a TONY-WENDY-JACK-troika for L.A.

Lots of spinners in the house to start off this thread. Look for a worthy candidate, not Wendy.

The haircut comment is no dumber than Jill Stewart titling her article "The Pixie Vs. the Greek." Who sounds like he's just off the boat, she ads. Well Stewart was never known for being PC.

Wendy's cute enough in a old, boxy- suit kind of way. She doesn't have to look that old, though, but she dresses just like Janice Hahn. Nuff said. Even Jan Perry tries harder, or just tries harder to hide her growing bald spot with hats. The way the cameras on Ch 35 shine down from above on all their bald spots is just plain cruel.

Anyone convicted of perjury, including Alger and Guevara, should never be allowed to hold public office. Usually in perjury cases the person has lied after having sworn to tell the truth. Alger compounded his crime by describing the incident as an innocuous error! To get a conviction for perjury the D.A. has to establish criminal intent by the suspect.

When she's face to face with people, such as when she's in the City Council meeting, she doesn't have what it takes to challenge anyone, ask tough questions, or fight the status quo.

She's very meek.

When designing a TV spot, which doesn't involve direct interaction with people, she knew she had to pick 2 or 3 examples of waste and fraud.

Yes she was among those who should have asked the tough questions at the time, especially when she chaired the audits and efficiency committee, but none of her challengers have enough money to reach as many voters with the truth that she is reaching with her spots.

Bottom line, which she can't spell out, is that she sees things she would like to have investigated further, but what with the pressure of so many other immediate, nitty- gritty constituent concerns like fixing potholes (she IS the pothole Queen), and having to lobby for a quorum on anything without speaking to more than the allowed number at any given time for legal reasons, bla-bla -- it's not possible to do what you can as a Lone Ranger. As Controller or City Attorney. So I am willing to believe that she and Weiss will be independent, freed of constraints.

Stopping making excuses for Wendy. There is no limit on the number of issues that she can speak on. Besides, asking tough questions and investigating crappy proposals doesn't happen just when they come to the City Council. It occurs before that time.

What do you mean that she's too busy with constitutent matters to do her ONLY job -- being a legislator. Her constituent demands don't come anywhere close to those of some other Councilmembers.

And being a Lone Ranger doesn't even mean that she has to be successful. If she would just use her skills and her staff's skills to raise the questions, others can join in. Leaders lead.

Love that Wendy Greuel ad! And that high-dollar make-up team gave her the illusion of actually posessing eye-lids and an upper lip! Greuel's a cowardly combination of Sandy Duncan, Georgia Engel and a goody-goody babysitter. Wrote a song about her-Here it goes: (to the tune of "I'M FLYING!" from the Broadway musical, PETER PAN)

I'm lying!Vote for me-I'm Wendy-Token WASP for Mayor V--Secretly a Dyke-Gotta back Jack Weiss-You will pay the price--For----My Lyyy---iiinnnngggggg!!!

Angelenos complain and continue to reelect these same ineffective politicos over and over which is why the politicos do as he/she pleases with no accountability to their constituents. Don’t be fooled by the colorful fliers and twenty second media sound bites during elections.

I’m hopeful that the 255,242 Angelenos who voted against Measure R, term extension to council members, will term out and vote against the incumbents on March 3, 2009.

Poor woman, a really useless woman considering how many times i have called her number or the 311 and practically nothing has been resolved my area still looks like a dump. We need new people like Walter Moore. We need to remove all this Mexican mafia and illegal alien pandering crowd such as Villar, Wendy Gruel, Nunez etc